Healthcare News

A few years ago, after not getting my period for almost a year and not getting pregnant either, I went to my ob-gyn and some basic hormonal screening showed that something was amiss. I was referred to a fertility specialist, a reproductive endocrinologist (RE), and after another month of testing, I found out not only did I have fertility issues, but I was also a carrier for a rare genetic disorder.

Women undergoing in vitro fertilization have long worried that the procedure could raise their risk for breast cancer.

After all, the treatment requires temporarily increasing levels of certain sex hormones to five or 10 times the normal. Two of those hormones, estrogen and progesterone, can affect the course of certain kinds of breast cancer.

I knew from a very early age that I wanted to go to college and have a career. It wasn't until my sophomore year in college, though, that I made the decision to pursue medicine -- a career path that would ultimately take 15 years of my life to accomplish. At age 19, however, time was not a concern to me. I had all the time in the world. I never actually sat down to do the math and acknowledge the fact I would be almost 33 years old by the time I finished my training to become an OB/GYN and Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist. I was young, had the whole world at my fingertips and was oblivious to what impact making such a decision would have on my future.

Women with the BRCA1 gene mutation appear to have smaller amounts of the anti-Müllerian hormone, a hormone that indicates the number of eggs remaining in the ovaries. The research appears in the journal Human Reproduction.

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have identified a protein, involved in the development of the human placenta, that may also help embryos implant in the womb - something which could improve treatments for recurrent miscarriages and pre-eclampsia.

Depression and anxiety, and not necessarily the use of antidepressant medication, are associated with lower pregnancy and live birth rates following in vitro fertilisation, according to a large register study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings are published in the journal Fertility & Sterility and can be of interest to clinicians treating infertility and for women with depression or anxiety planning to undergo fertility treatment.

Childhood cancer survivors have long been concerned about their future ability to reproduce. New research published in The Lancet Oncology puts some of these worries to bed but at the same time confirms others.

The twin birth rate in the U.S. has surged over the last 30 years, mostly because of reproductive technologies including in vitro fertilization. Though it's partly the cause, IVF could also be the most promising solution to reducing unintended twin births, argues Dr. Eli Adashi in a new editorial in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Andrew Wilkie, Nuffield professor of pathology at the University of Oxford in the UK, and colleagues describe their findings in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When prospective parents who are unable to conceive a child on their own consult me for assistance, I am excited to help them build their families. But for them, dealing with the challenges of infertility can be as stressful as having cancer. Fortunately, the latest advances in in vitro fertilization (IVF) are giving them a better chance than ever of achieving their dreams.